


send me a flower (but only with your name on it)

by cloudydresses



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Jungle, El doesn't have her powers, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Hopper is mentioned, Lumax, Mileven, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, the guys don't know El and Max in the beginning, they're all like 24 in this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-01-12 18:52:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18452540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudydresses/pseuds/cloudydresses
Summary: When some rare flowers are found in a jungle, a university gathers a research team to go study them. Amongst them are botanist Mike Wheeler and photographer El Hopper. (or the one where the whole party goes to an island for a month)





	1. bloom

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!  
> I’m so excited to start this, writing this chapter has already been so much fun.  
> Hypnoidvoid’s reddie fic “Key To The Jungle” inspired me to make this, so full credit to them<3  
> Also the chapter count is currently set at twelve but honestly that might change. I have a way of writing way to much lol. Anyways I hope you like this, mileven will forever be the death of me.

(Friday, April 12th, 2018)

Mike’s eyes widen and a mild panic rushes through him as he looks at his watch. His meeting with professor Brooks takes place in about 7 minutes, and since her office is on the complete other side of campus, it would take Mike at least 10 to get there. And that's not even counting his frantic few minutes of putting his papers in his shoulder bag and locking the door to his office. This all meant he was going to be late. And Mike _hated_ being late. Letting out a sigh and therefore accepting his fate, he hurried to pack up his stuff and was shortly after on his way through campus.

It was a quiet afternoon and most of the students had already went home to enjoy their weekend. The sun was cascading a soft light on his surroundings, making the weather perfect for a nice night out. He remembered his plans with the party later and couldn't help the giddy feeling spreading in his chest at the thought. It’d been so long since they’ve all hung out together, each of them working on their own stuff. And even though it was exciting, getting to do exactly what he loves, he _missed_ them. After Dustin suggested they all went out together in their group chat, the plans of them meeting at a local bar was quickly settled.

On an almost record breaking time Mike was standing in front of professor Brooks’s office with about a minute to spare. He made a mental note to tell the guys later. _You’re 24,_ his brain reminded him, but he quickly pushed it away. After taking a few seconds to breathe, (Mike had never been very athletic, like, _at all_ ), he knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

With a wary hand he opened the door. Now Mike wasn’t scared of professor Brooks per se, but the stern look on her face and the fact that he had no idea what this meeting was about, well, none of really helped calm his building nerves. Professor Brooks was one of the administrative people in the university, and had for several years been on the board. Still, she couldn’t fire him right? Or could she? No, that would make no sense. He’d done nothing wrong. The university had been very clear when they offered Mike a part time job at the University of California, Berkely while offering him free use of the schools facilities. As the’ve stated before they have high hopes for Mike’s studies, which is something that he will always find incredibly rewarding. Especially since Ted Wheeler had almost disowned his own son when Mike told him he wanted to become a botanist.

 _“You want to study_ ** _flowers_** _?”_ _The words were spoken with such disgust, almost like when someone talked to Ted Wheeler about the New York Yankees._

_“I’m going to be paying for my son to go to college to study a girl major? Are you kidding me? For god's sake Karen, when I asked for a son this wasn’t what I meant.”_

  _A few seconds pass by._

_Karen leaves the table with a crying Holly in her arms._

_His dad pushes his chair out aggressively from where he’s sitting._

_He’s probably on his way to his La-Z-boy. It doesn’t matter though. Mike doesn’t care._

_Nancy’s gone. She left for college._

_So that leaves Mike, sitting alone at the abandoned dinner table._

 Mike took a deep breath and tried to stop overthinking. It was silly and irrational. Still, some of his worry must’ve transferred to his face, because when he greeted professor Brooks and shook her hand, she let out a small laugh and attempted something Mike thinks was a smile. Thinks.

“Don’t look so scared Mr.Wheeler. You have nothing to worry about.”

He let out a breath he didn't realise he’d been holding. He nodded and went to sit down in the small chair in front of her desk.

“I know, I'm sorry. My recent studies have been keeping me up all night. I seems to have me a bit on edge.”

Professor Brooks scoffed.

“Tell me about it.”

She gathered some of the scattered papers from her desk and stuck them in a drawer. Folding her hands together and propping her elbows up on her desk, she looked at him like she expected Mike so start talking. He was about to open his mouth when she suddenly spoke.

“Mike, this university wants you to conduct a four week long amazonian expedition followed by a team we will gather. Sounds like something you would be up for?”

10 seconds pass by. Mike blinks.

“What?”

“A bunch of extremely rare flowers have seemingly been spotted on a small island, and we want you, followed by a team, to go down and study them. You would regularly be reporting to us, and all expenses will be covered. Though you already know at least one of them, we’ve started to contact the othe..”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry?”

Mike cleared his throat.

“I mean, I would be honored to do it. Yeah uhm, truly, I mean this sound like an incredible opportunity and,”

Mike looked up as he heard professor Brooks fighting back a laugh. He realised he had started rambling and sheepishly looked down at his hands.

“it sounds awesome. Thank you so much, I promise you won't regret it.”

This time she did smile. It was genuine, and Mike couldn't help but mirror it even if he tried. He could hardly believe it, a month long trip on an amazonian island? Studying and looking for rare flowers? His instant excitement was enough to make him (temporarily) forget his fears of spiders, unknown animals and, well, the list could honestly go on. But it sounded like such a great opportunity, carrier wise but also just to experience things that wasn't the schools biology lab. Though he also started wondering. When? Who would he be going with? Where would they be staying? What could he bring? Thankfully professor Brooks came to his rescue.

“I know you properly have a bunch of questions,”

he nodded eagerly as she took out a big paper file from one of the cabinets behind her.

“and hopefully they're all answered in this.”

She handed him the file and leaned back in her chair. Mike was about to open it when he caught a glimpse of all the work in front of him. Deciding it was properly not the best time to occupy the professor, he got up to shake her hand and leave.

“Thank you professor Brooks, I’m insanely grateful this.”

He briefly looked down at the file in his hands.

“I don’t doubt that Mr.Wheeler. This university is very proud to have you. If you have any further questions or concerns about the trip, please don’t hesitate to come knock on my door.”

It was a sincere offer, and Mike couldn't help the smile on his lips as he closed the door behind him. He just felt so _lucky_ and to say Mike was a little excited to the the guys was putting it lightly. And yet, as he was about to start his car, his curiosity got the better of him. As it turns out, they will be leaving soon, in no more than three weeks actually. He turned the page to see who might be joining him for the trip, and if anyone had accidentally been looking at Mike when he read the names, well, he felt sorry for them. Because, _holy shit_ , there’s no way this is real. Just no way, right? He kept looking at the paper, reading the familiar names over and over again;

  * Byers, William. Studies botany at the University of California, Riverside
  * Sinclair, Lucas. Studies ecology at the University of California, Davis
  * Henderson, Dustin. Works as a journalist at the New York Times



Suddenly there was a way different reason to hurry home. The guys were going to _flip_.

**__________**

  _“And when she knows_

_What she wants from her time_

_And when she wakes up_

_And makes up her mind”_

_“She'll see I'm not so tough_

_Just because_

_I'm in love with an uptown girl”_

 The catchy 80’s song was boosting through the bluetooth speaker in El’s apartment flat. She and Max were singing along whilst dancing and laughing. This was nothing unusual, as they held their own private karaoke party almost every friday. The pizza they’d ordered earlier was still sitting on the livingroom table in front of El’s couch, and while whatever tv-show they’d been watching was long forgotten, the giddy feeling both girls have had the entire day certainly was not. There was no reason why, really. Maybe it was because the people Max worked with hadn’t been absolute jackasses, or maybe because El had a gotten really good feedback on her recent work. Or maybe it was because some days were just a little brighter than others. But whatever is was, it certainly wasn’t going away. The redhead sang out the final tunes of the song while holding an invisible microphone. Seconds later they both slumped on the couch, completely out of breath.

El let out a breathy sigh and smiled as she looked up at the ceiling. She pushed away the brown curly locks that had gotten in her face and turned her head to look at her best friend. Max had approached her during recess in 3rd grade and asked if she wanted to play, and they’d been attached at the hip ever since. To protecting eachother from guys in high school to Hopper becoming basically a second dad to Max when things got bad at home. They were always there for eachother, and El felt her heart squeeze in gratitude for the girl next to her. Max’s fiery nature was a perfect match to El’s calm one, so much that Hopper wasn’t even worried when her daughter had brung her home for the first time. Okay, maybe he had been a little worried back when El announced that Max was going to teach her to skateboard. Turns out it wasn’t all for nothing, because a few days later El had come home crying with a bleeding knee and a profusely apologising Max. Later they’d ended up sitting in front of the TV with a popsicle in their hands.

“Do you think they know?”

El snapped her head in the direction of the voice. Max was now standing in the kitchen pouring herself some water. El frowned and got up to join her.

“Know what?”

“That we know eachother”

She was talking about the whole goingtoajungletogetherforamonthwithfourotherguys. El had been the first to get a call. It was her editor, who was just popping in to say hello and oh by the way, do you wanna go document some rare flowers in a jungle? The question had caught her off guard, but as the details were being described she instantly agreed to go. The company she currently worked with wanted her to go down there and takes pictures of the flowers but also of the whole trip. Apparently a whole research team was being sent down there, but would also be accompanied by a journalist. She didn't know who they were, at this point all she knew was their names. There was one name El recognized though, and when she hears it she was so surprised she almost choked on air.

_“I’m sorry who did you just mention?”_

_“Maxine Mayfield?”_

_“...will she be on the team?”_

_“Yes, and it says here she studies meteorology. Why?”_ _  
_ _“Oh no reason, I just thought you said.. something else.”_

When the call ended she immediately tried called Max, but she was calling her too, so it took them a few minutes to finally get through to one another. It must’ve looked ridiculous, El thinks, the way they both yelled almost the exact same thing to each other. The thought of the trip brought El back to Max’s question, and after a few seconds of pondering, she answered;

“No, I don't think they do,”

she filled at cup with water and chugged it.

“not that it matters though.”

Max nodded in agreement and proceeded to take out some snacks from the cabinets behind her.

“Are you excited?”

Max asked, munching on some crackers.

“Yeah, I’m already planning what I’m gonna bring”

El smiled and grabbed the cracker that was offered to her.

“Same.”

And so the night went on, joking and dancing and talking about how they couldn’t wait. It was just so _exciting_. None of them had really travelled much, not that they minded, but El could just tell it was going to be great. Even though her work often consisted of her being at many different places, this was new. And big. It was also intriguing, like, who were these other people? Earlier that same night Max had joked around with them all being a bunch of old people. Then El had scoffed, which resulted in Max going down a different train of thought.

_“ooh, maybe they’re super hot. Oh my god El imagine if they were like hot guys our age. I would die.”_

_“Max!”_

_“Oh come on El, like you aren’t the romantic one of us.”_

This was true. El was a hopeless romantic. A very single one, at that. Still, there was no way she would find her “true love” on this expedition. Because El was, _is,_ a sucker for a good love story, but this? Nah, she thought as she brushed her teeth later that night. That might a little _too_ far fetched, even for El.

 

If only she knew.


	2. your heart eyes are showing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Thank you for reading and leaving kudos, it means a lot<3  
> Here’s chapter 2, enjoy!  
> (and might I just add that we get first reactions/impressions in this and it’s properly one of my favourite parts in every mileven fanfic) ok bye lol

(Thursday, May 2nd, 2018)

As it turns out, three weeks go by _fast_. Before Mike knows it there’s less than 24 hours till he has to be at the airport. A lot happened in those 20 days, all from the hilarious reactions he received from the guys when telling them to meetings with the university about the work he was to conduct. But first, back to that Friday night almost three weeks ago.

He hadn’t been able to keep it in for long, only a mere 20 minutes passed before Mike just _had_ to spill it. At first they didn’t believe him, which, Mike figured, so he made sure he brought the file. After some serious convincing (though Lucas definitely didn’t buy it) they finally gave in. This all made for even funnier phone calls when they all got a call the next day asking them to join. Mike had almost never enjoyed saying ‘I told you so’ so much, and that was saying something.

It hadn’t been long after that when he figured he should call his mom, to maybe let her know that he wouldn’t be able to make it to the yearly barbecue party at the Wheelers residence. She’d been worried at first, of course, but had soon gotten somewhat comfortable to the idea of her son leaving for an expedition in a jungle. It still hadn’t stopped her from calling almost everyday to make sure Mike had gotten his vaccines, allergy medicine, and don’t even get Mike started on the three hour long phone call he had with her two days ago while she helped him pack. He was grateful though, and he promised her he would call the second they arrived. Mike knew she felt bad that she couldn’t be there so say goodbye, but honestly that might be for the better. Otherwise Mike couldn’t promise he wouldn’t cry. And he was an adult now, _dammit_ , so crying at the airport in the arms of his mother would without a doubt relent in endless teasing from the party, and that wasn’t something Mike was particularly interested in.

It’s nearing lunch time when Mike locks up his office, having stopped by to grab some last minute stuff, so he decides to eat at a local coffee shop. Despite being really tall, Mikes never had the biggest appetite. Sure, in his years of growing and going through puberty he ate more than what should properly be considered healthy, but after rounding 18, coffee and a few microwaved meals a week have seemed to done the trick. Nancy told him that was just how it was in college, but even after graduating the simple meal (if it could even be called that) was enough to keep Mike satisfied. As he sat down after having ordered, he thought of the two remaining people on the team. The two women they had yet to meet. After reading the plans and schedules, Mike learned that they were leaving a few days before them. Which meant that they were down there right now. Mike could feel the excitement mixed with a few nerves cursing through him once again. He’d talked to Will about the flowers they were going to study, since Will was studying botany too. Together they’d sort of geeked out about it, realising just how big of a thing this was. They both remember reading about the species when in college, so to travel down there to see them first hand was, well, nothing short of exciting.

Mike was pulling out some of his work notes when a waitress came with his order. And just like that, Mike felt himself getting sucked into the familiarity of it all.

**__________**

(Wednesday, May 1st, 2018)

“And you’re sure you got it?”

“Yes dad, I'm sure.”

“What about sunscreen, did you remember sunscreen?”

“Of course I remembered sunscreen, who do you think I am?”

“Hey Chief! All good here, don’t wo-”  
El pushed Max away from her face, wanting to finish up talking to her worrying dad already. She knows it just means he cares, but still. Asking her if she forgot her toothbrush? Hopper had adopted her when she was only 5, but after that? Since El had gotten old enough she was the once in charge of remembering things. She had called Hopper the second they arrived at their site, knowing he would give her shit later if she didn’t. Her dad had picked up almost the second she dialed, and El doesn’t doubt that he was sitting with his phone in his hands waiting for her to call. Not that he would ever care to admit that. And now with Max out of

her personal space she picked up her talk with her dad. The call ended a few minutes later and El continued to unpack her belongings.

The plane ride had gone smoothly, a few disturbance here and there but nothing major. After arriving at the airport they met with a Mr. Harrington, (although he prefers that people just call him Steve) who would be guiding them through their first few days. He was a biologist in his late twenties who apparently had been leading quite a few of these expeditions himself. After sitting about 25 minutes in a bus they’d been escorted to a boat that sailed them to the island. El had been full of nerves and excitement, and judging from the slight shaking on Max’s hands, she’d been a little nervous too. Give them some credit, they were minutes away to finding out were they would sleep and live for the next month. And oh boy, El never wants to forget the feeling when they first arrived.

_After getting off the boat they followed Steve along the deck, and El was instantly captivated by the nature before her. Passing what could only be described as a beach, they continued their walk. As they entered the rainforest El took a deep breath and looked around. Giant trees surrounded them following along with bushes and flowers. They slowed down for a moment, the nature feeling oh so encompassing and if it were to swallow El right then and there she doesn’t think she would mind. Sunlight beamed through the trees and the humid weather made El want to take a shower immediately. Max was at a loss for words too, and the usually loud girl was looking around her in awe. Steve continued his walk, barely noticing the two girls make a stop. A few moments later they noticed they were halting behind and hurried up as to not get lost. Wouldn’t that have been something._

They’d arrived at a big wooden platform and El quickly made out what looked like three sleeping tents total. There was also two bigger tents and El assumed one of them was for a kitchen and the other for the work studies. Outside was also a few tables and chairs. _Not that bad_ she thought as Steve showed them around. They were in the middle of a jungle, after all.

Now that the two girls were going to be bunk buddies, Max’s words, _not_ El’s, they were getting settled in their tent. It was relatively big, enough so that El wouldn’t have Max snoring directly into her ear all night. They went to bed that night feeling happy and overwhelmed. They were _here_ now, and the thought threatened to take El’s breath away. The exhaustion of a long day travelling finally caught up with them and Max yawned before stating;

“We’re here El.”

“We’re here.”

**___________**

(Friday, May 3rd, 2018)

“Son of a bitch!”

“Quit whining!”

“Guys stop it!”  
Mike sighed as his friends continued bickering. They were currently sitting on a boat on their way over to the island. Apparently Dustin kept getting water sprayed on him and the only solution for that was to, well, complain about it. Mike had offered they switched places but the offer must’ve been overheard by the continued banter between his friends. He shook his head and looked out across the sea, hoping they would be more mature when they reached land. Mike was keen on making a good first impression, and his friends wasn’t gonna ruin it even if they tried. As the boat came to a stop they piled out on the deck and was met with a tall man.  
“Hi guys! I'm Mr.Harrington, but that’s just a stupid formality so please, call me Steve. I will help and assist you on your first few days out here since I have a lot of experience in amazonian expeditions. I’m currently working on my own studies in the small town you just came from and will be available at all times,”

The man got closer and put his hand to his mouth as if he was about to tell them a secret.

“but that’s really just something I have to say. I would greatly appreciate it if you didn’t try to reach me between 3-5 am.”

Mike and the guys laughed and nodded. He liked Steve. With luggage in their hands they began walking. Dustin was up front chatting with Steve and as they moved through the woods, Mike felt wonder overtaking his every senses. He was instantly drawn to the nature in front of him and stared around with eager eyes, wanting to see every bit of the beautiful rainforest. _I really need to get outside more_ he thought, and even though the nature back home could never compare to this, hell, Mike doubted anything could, he started to feel sorry for all the time spend indoors. Sure he worked with flowers and plants on a daily basis, but he was never out there, inspecting and observing the life he so carefully studied. He was brought out of his spiral of thoughts when Will knocked his hand with Mike’s.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

He raised his eyebrows and looked at him. Mike nodded and sighed.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”  
Mike looked down at the smaller man. He considered the whole party to be his family, but he’s always been closest to Will. They lived together the first 2 years of college and even after Will moved in with his boyfriend Jacob, they still saw eachother on a regular basis. Now they live 20 minutes apart and meet up at least two times a week to talk about anything and nothing. All of them hang out on a regular basis too, but Will has a special place in Mike’s heart. They walked for an additional 10 minutes before Steve slowed down.

“Now, the girls as you already know have been here for a few days and I'm sure they would want to show you around,”

He entered one of the bigger tents and came out seconds later.

Mike felt sort of awkward as they all stood there looking a little dumbfounded. He took the brief intermission to look around and it actually looked pretty nice. Like somewhere he could stay for the next 4 weeks, and the conclusion filled him with relief.

Then Mike spotted some plants he thought he recognized and therefore failed to see the two women coming out of the very same tent Steve walked into moment before. Which means he was startled when someone suddenly spoke.

“Hi, I'm Max, this is El,”

Mike looked up at the woman speaking and was surprised to see that it looked like she was their age. Then he averted his eyes down to the woman beside her and…

  _oh_

**__________**

El heard them minutes before they arrived.

“They’re here”

Max breathed out a few curse words and put down some of the papers she’d been holding to compose herself.

“I thought you said you’d give me a heads up!”

“This is the heads up!?”

She furrowed her brows, Max was almost acting… nervous? El wanted to make a good impression too, determined to be as kind as possible no matter who or how they were like. But Max was never nervous. At least not this visibly.

“Are you nervous?”

“What? No!”

“You seem nervous”

“I'm not nervous I just wanna make a good first impression!”

“I thought you said you didn’t care about that?”

“I neve-”

Someone cleared their throat and the girls whipped their heads around. Steve was standing in the opening of the tent.

“The guys are outside, I thought you might wanna say hi”

And just like that, he disappeared again. El took a deep breath, this was it. Max took the lead as always, something El was grateful for. She’d always been on the more quiet and awkward side, though Max often told her she was great with people. Just not when there were alot of them around. Trailing behind her best friend she looked up. The first man that caught her eye was wearing a cap and had brown curls sticking out from underneath. He was tan and had broad shoulders. The man sent out what could only be described as a giddy vibe with his star wars t-shirt and welcoming smile. He was also definitely around her age, _they all are_ , El quickly noticed. Next to him was a taller, dark skinned man, looking directly at Max as she spoke with a glint in his eye. Not in a creepy way though, more like he just… admired her. Beside him stood a smaller, more petite man, looking at her with a kind smile on his face. El smiled back.

Then she looked at him.

Standing no less than seven feet away from her was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. He was tall, _so tall_. The dark wavy hair resembling Milo Thatch’s contrasted so very well with his pale skin, and El felt her breath disappear as she noticed the freckles scattered across his nose and cheekbones. She looked him directly in the eyes, watching as his pupils dilated and she had a hard time looking away from the depth of them, even though it felt like they threatened to swallow her whole. Moving her gaze she followed an oh so defined jaw all the way down his outfit that consisted of a navy blue t-shirt and black shorts paired with a pair of sneakers. El would’ve been embarrassed of how publicly she was checking him out, but right now she couldn't bring herself to care.

 _cute cute cute_ her brain whispered. Suddenly El was elbowed in the ribs, shaking her out of her trance. She looked at Max with big eyes only to find the redhead smirking knowingly. _Shit._

“Care to introduce yourself El?”

**__________**

Mike watched mesmerized at the woman in front of her as she introduced herself to his life long friends. Trailing his eyes down her figure, Mike swears her tanned skin was glowing. The women, _El_ , was wearing a loose beige short sleeved shirt tucked in a pair of black fabric shorts paired with a leather belt, finishing off the look with a pair of Doc Martens.

Her brown curls were cut just above her shoulders and bobbed as she laughed at something. The motion drew him back to her face. _Oh god, her face_. She had big brown eyes and the cutest little button nose. Lush lips that formed into a smile, revealing her dimples. Mike felt his knees go weak at the sight. Perfectly curved cheekbones. Mike wondered how anyone could be this beautiful. Just as he was regaining some coherent sense of thought, she turned her attention at him. Mike swallowed hard, feeling (and properly looking) like an idiot.

But then she smiled at him and all of Mike’s insecurities faded away. Even the snickers from his friends.

“Hi I'm uh.. I'm El”  
She extended her hand to him, and suddenly she felt much closer than at first.

Mike took a few seconds to respond. Her voice was so soft. He met her eyes and a thrill ran up Mike’s spine.

“I’m Mike, nice to meet you”  
As he shook her hand he swore he felt a spark of electricity go through him at the touch. _Get it together_.

“You too”

Using her other hand she tugged a piece of hair behind her ear.

“I assume that means your Mike Wheeler, the botanist who’s going to be leading this expedition?”  
El raised her brow. Mike was still a little struck by the sudden closeness and could therefore only nod.

“The very same one!”

Dustin stepped beside him and smacked his hand down hard on Mike’s shoulder. For the first time in what felt like forever (but was properly only a few minutes) Mike looked up. Seeing as all 4 pair of eyes looked at them expectantly Mike cleared his throat. This was just great. Barely 20 minutes in and he’s already developing a crush. _Fantastic_.

The rest of the day went by in a blur with the girls and Steve showing them around and the guys getting settled into their tents;

 _“No, no way. I'm not sleeping next to you.”_  
_“Come on Lucas don’t be a baby”_ _  
_ “You talk in your sleep Dustin!”

And suddenly the night had dawned upon them and they each reciprocated to their respectful tents. Mike still hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to El yet, but he was determined to change that first thing in the morning. Thankfully none of his friends had teased him about his Mike-still-can’t-talk-to-pretty-girls moment, but he thinks it’s just because they haven’t had the chance to yet. With Will already completely wiped out next to him he turned off the little lamp and closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the adventure begins!  
> At first I wanted to make Mike’s hair curly, but then I figured that sort of fluffy late 90's Milo Thatch like hairstyle/professor thing was even better lol. Anyways stay tuned!


	3. plants can't grow without light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!  
> So uhm,, yeah. This took a little longer than expected, sorry about that.  
> Life decided to be, well, life lol. Also can we just pretend that geography isn’t a thing in this chapter because uhh.. yeah I'm not american and California is apparently Very Far Away. Thanks.  
> Enjoy!

(Saturday, May 4th, 2018)

It’s a little past six when El wakes up and for a short while she just lays still, listens to the birds chirping. She loves mornings, finding something utterly peaceful about them. She always wakes up early and will afterwards lay for several minutes accompanied by her own thoughts. There was no rush, no hurry seeing as the day simply hadn't started yet. El cherishes mornings and this one was no different. She’d fallen asleep a little later than usual, a certain guy with dark eyes filling her thoughts. Then she shook her head, why was she acting so weird? _I don’t even know him._ Her thoughts drifted to yesterday, about how every time she tried stealing a glance at him, he was already looking at her. Not that she minded, because she _really_ didn’t, but it made her all flustered and resulted in her stumbling over words more times than she’d care to admit. How embarrassing. But El was certain she wasn’t the only one affected, clearly noticing the blush he’d been sporting ever since they met. Or maybe it was just the heat. El tried really hard convincing herself it wasn’t. There’d also been that weird spark when she shook his hand, something she couldn’t explain.

Streams of light from the early morning sun was peeking through the tents opening, stating it to be yet another sunny day. Not like El had expected anything else really, but it was still nice. Deciding to get up, she tiptoed barefoot out of the shared tent. Not wanting to wake up Max, trust her, she’d made that mistake once and was _not_ about to do it again, she pushed the door open as quietly as possible. Lucky for her it wasn’t closed all the way, and a few seconds later she was heading over to the “kitchen”.

El made sure she was extra careful as she went about making her breakfast, which constituted of a cup of tea and a bun, not wanting to wake up the others. She had no idea when they usually got up, but it didn’t seem like the best idea accedentially waking them up after their first night. Let alone any morning, really, because she would feel terrible guilty. Going about her morning she got so caught up in her thoughts she completely failed to notice the figure standing behind her. So when said person by accident drops something El assumes was a mug, it makes her heart leap out of her throat. Startled she lets out a small yelp, whips around and presses a hand to her heart. And when she sees who it is, it doesn't slow her racing heartbeat down. If anything it increases.

“Mike!”

**__________**

_Fuck._

Mike can’t say he’s surprised. He’s a dropper, something Nancy always loved teasing him with. But a still, a mug? He can’t even hold a mug for more than 30 seconds before his brain somehow thinks it would look better broken on the floor? He just wanted a cup of coffee, been yearning after it ever since Steve told them about the option. Mike had no idea anyone would be up, but again, how could he know? Realising now that assuming no one would be up had been foolish. He was just so used to being the only one up so early  (except for maybe Will) in what Dustin calls the “devils hours”. So admediatly yes, he had been slightly startled to find another person already in the tent. Nonetheless El, the cute photographer that made his stomach swoop simply by looking at her.

 _Wow, going great with the hormones I see_.

And now she was looking at him, big eyes and slightly parted lips with a mug in one hand and a bun in the other.

“Hey El”

It sounded a bit too breathy for his liking, but how could it not? She was wearing these tiny sleep shorts that exposed her long tanned legs and a thin tank top that absolutely did not help Mike whatsoever. It all made him feel like he was sixteen again, and that’s _not_ something he wants to relive. Ever. But then he found her eyes and for a moment they just looked at each other, the only sound coming from some birds outside. A few seconds later he realised that he was properly staring at her like a moron and that it must be really weird, so he quickly bend down to clean up the mess he made, trying not to make things awkward.  
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you”

Mike started to feel guilty as he picked up the scattered pieces from the mug. Why did he have to be so clumsy? But then a hand covered his, and he looked up in surprise to see that El was now squatting in front of him. That same spark from yesterday went through him and he couldn’t help but wonder if she felt it too. She was so close and Mike would only have to stretch his hand the shortest amou-

“It’s okay”

She flashed him a smile and started to select pieces from the ground.

“No, really I'm just super clumsy a-”

“Mike don't worry about it, we’ll just clean it up”

She shrugged like it was truly no big deal, and he was relieved. She didn’t seem bothered, so Mike chose not to be either. After they were done and El found him a spare cup that could hold his coffee, they sat down at the table outside. The sun was slowly rising, casting the rainforest in a beautiful haze. Despite the early morning hour it was warm enough for Mike to not wear a jacket and he leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes for a moment to breathe in the fresh air.

“Wow, you seem really relaxed.”

With his eyes still closed he smiled.

“I am”

“Too bad that wasn’t 2 minutes ago”

“Hey!”

He sat up and looked at her in disbelief to find her already grinning at him. Then she threw her hand up in surrender and exclaimed;

“I'm sorry! That was mean.”  
“Apology excepted.”  
“Doesn’t mean i didn’t meant it”

The sentence is almost whispered and for a second Mike isn’t entirely sure she said it. Dramatically he gasped and put his hand on his chest in an attempt to look hurt. He wasn’t, of course.

“Miss Hopper!”

Then she giggled and Mike was grateful he was sitting down. Her eyes lit up and her smile revealed her dimples and _jesus christ_ , Mike doesn’t think he’s ever seen someone prettier. As their laughter quiets down he takes a sip of his coffee, which is actually pretty good. It isn't long before Mike’s curiosity sets in, and he realises he wants to know everything there is to know about El. Still, he realises they’ve only know each other for about 15 hours, so he figures it would be best to start off small. _Why, whatever made you think that? Just please, don’t start off with some silly small talk question like where she’s fr-_

“So uh, where are you from?”

The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them. Mentally facepalming himself, he looks over at El who’s just sitting with her tea, paying no mind to Mike’s frantic features as she answers;

“Illinois, I grew up there with my dad and, well, Max”

There’s a certain fondness when she speaks, the way a smile creeps up on her lips and Mike envies it. He’s still happy for her though, and smiles back when she looks over at him.

“You?”

“Uh, a small town in Indiana called Hawkins”

As he mentions his hometown something seems to have sparked a memory, because she looks deep in thought for a few moments, biting her lip and furrowed brows. Then something clicks,

“Hawkins?”

“Yeah”

“I'm pretty sure my dad grew up there. At least until he moved for college. I’ll have to ask him though, but I'm sure he’s mentioned the name Hawkins before. Huh, what a small world.”

“Tiny.”

Just as he was about to ask her another question, getting more and more intrigued by the woman in front of her with each passing second, Will stumbles out of their shared tent.

“Goodmorning El. Oh, and to you too Mike, didn’t see you there”

Mike knows it’s a lie, the mischievous grin Will flashes him over his shoulder confirming it. Man, the guys were going to give him shit, weren’t they? He flung his hand out to smack Will, and even though he missed it made El laugh, and in that moment Mike knew he would take all the teasing in the world if it meant he could make her laugh like that again.

_(And what Mike doesn’t know yet is that he’ll make her laugh for many years to come, even on her bad days. They’ll share kisses that leaves him aching for more and be up all night lost in deep conversations that makes him happy he’s alive. And it’ll continue to be like that until the very end. Mike and El, together. Always._

_But we're getting ahead of ourselves now.)_

**__________**

Max turned over in her bed, she _really_ didn’t want to get up. But it's Saturday for crying out loud so can you blame her? El said it didn't matter down here but to Max, Saturdays will always be for sleeping in. Her work already forced her to get up way too early the first five days of the week, so Max usually didn't care where she was. If it was Saturday, she was sleeping in. But, as she realised with a groan, she was already fast awake and that meant she might as well get up. Not surprised at the empty bed beside her, (she swears that girl gets up before the devil has put his shoes on) she looks at her watch to find out it's only 8. Or already  8? Max doesn't really know and nor does she care. As she gets up and leaves the tent to go make herself some coffee, she hears warm chatter coming from inside.

 _The others are properly up already_ . Max’s opinion on the guys? She’s decided she’ll give them the rest of the day before she makes up her mind. But already, Max can just tell they’re nerds. Now, problem is, Max is herself kind of a nerd, but that doesn't mean she can't tease them about it. She likes them though. Especially that tall african american guy with his intense stare that felt like he looked right into her soul. She felt her cheeks heating up again and mentally shook her head. _Get it together Mayfield_.

Upon entering the tent she almost stopped in her tracks at the scene before her. El and the five others were mingling around the kitchen, some sitting down while others were making something at the counter. It wasn’t weird or anything, if anything it was how _normal_ it seemed. There were talking and playful banter, surely at if they’ve known eachother for years. And El, usually shy and a little reserved, was engaging and looking anything but uncomfortable. It warmed Max’s heart. Reminding herself of her plan (Max knew she could be a bit crude and that it often scared people away, so she’d decided last night to at least try to be nice to these new people. They could end up being her friends, after all) and she continued her walk over to the counter.

“Morning Max”

“Mmh”

Whatever conversation that had been going on quieted down and suddenly Max felt way too exposed. She hope she didn’t come off too unprofessional with her rock-band t-shirt and messy hair. _Wait, why do I care about my hair?_ Deciding it was way too early for all that, she turned around to greet them.

“Morning nerds,”

Max wondered why she even had a plan to begin with.

“Max! She’s just kidding don't worry. Go get some coffee Mayfield.”  
“Geez, calm down Ellie”

“Ellie?”

The tall one, Mike, looked at El puzzled. _Still sporting those heart eyes I see._

“Oh yeah, that’s actually my name, but only my dad ca..”  
Max let the new conversation piece fade in the background as she reached for her mug. Suddenly a kettle was put out in front of her and she was met with a sheepish smile.

“Coffee?”

“Uhm yeah, thanks”

She smiled back as the cup filled with her favourite caffeine beverage.

“You’re Dustin right?”  
“At your service”

He tugged on the baseball cap, _does he ever take it off?_ , and send her another smile. Though this time it seemed remarkably more tired.

“Just woke up?”

“10 minutes ago. I honestly have no idea what these people are on, it's saturday?!”

Now _this_ was a man Max could work with. She scoffed and took a sip of her coffee.

“I like you.”

After sitting outside for about 10 minutes just talking and eating Max finally asked what they should do today. Steve suggested they went on one of the hiking tracks to show the guys around the area, and Max said that she and El had something they wanted to show them later. After some planning the day was settled. At first they would try one of the three hiking tracks, then just chill and walk around the island with Max and El’s surprise after they’ve had dinner. And now, Max doesn’t wanna spoil all of it, she likes to think it's a pretty good idea,  but it might include bathing suits and swimming trunks. She just hopes none of them are scared of water.

**__________**

El quickly grabbed her camera from it's bag and put it around her neck. The rest of the guys where waiting outside for her. _The rest of the guys_ . This morning had made El wonder why the people in charge of putting such a team together had chosen exactly them. Not only are they almost all the same age, 4 of them had been friends since kindergarten! And now, not even 24 hours into knowing eachother, they were already cracking jokes and talking like they’d been friends forever. It's great of course, _fantastic_ even, and it makes El more than happy now that she’d been really worried at first. She knew they were smart, so of course they would get their work done and all, but it's nice knowing they aren’t too serious about the whole thing. Especially had it been old professors like Max had joked about. It's only now it hits El that Max’s wish about the guys being their age had come true. The mention of them being “super hot” creeps into her brain and she blushes as she thinks of one particular person.

The sun makes her regret leaving her sunglasses in their tent as she uses her hand as a fan. Steve guided them through the jungle in a slow haze so that they could take it all in. The narrow path made sure only two people could walk next to eachother, in which El couldn’t complain because it meant her and Mike’s shoulder often bumped into eachother. Well, more like El’s shoulder and Mike’s arm because he was just _that_ tall. It made El wonder how far down he would have to reach to kiss her. The thought makes El choke on air and she tries to play it off with a few coughs. She doesn't think it worked. Seconds later a hand bumps into hers and she looks up.

“You okay?”  
“Yeah, just think I swallowed a bug or something.”

That earns her a hoarse laugh and she looks back at the road in front of her. Or really, anything else to distract her as Mike runs his hand through his hair. The image of him from earlier this morning when he dropped his mug, just woken up with messy hair and a deep throaty voice as he says her name. Okay, she really needs to get a hold of herself. For all El know he could be in a relationship. She doesn't want to linger on the thought for too long, doesn't like the way it settles deep and sour in her stomach. But for now, she’s determined to just be his friend. Because if there’s anything El has learned this morning, it's that Mike Wheeler is _nice_. He’s sweet and funny and humble and actually listens. He looks at her with such intrigue as if she’s saying the most interesting thing in the world, and asks questions to what she says to keep her talking. It makes her want to spout all the things she’s never said. Even though she knows she can talk to Max and her dad about almost everything, there’s certain things she’s always kept to herself.

So when she speaks about her love for photography and goes on a rant about cameras and lighting and finding the perfect moment her heart can't help but flutter when Mike’s interest only grows the more she talks. How utterly thrilling and exciting. So yeah, being his friend is good enough. For now. 

After walking for about fifteen minutes they stopped at a clearing. A few feet away was steps that led up a mountain and around them were big rocks. They decided here was good for a break and threw their bag and such on the ground. Will quickly pulled out his sketchbook and fled amongst the trees. She’d learned rather quickly _not_ to call him William, seeing as his face turned a light shade of red when she for the first time addressed him by his birth name and he told her he’d rather be called Will.

_“I’ll never in my life get why my mom chose that name for me.”_

_“Why, I think it's endearing my little William.”_

_“Don't even try it Henderson.”_

El decided she would take this opportunity to finally take pictures of the plants and flowers. When she and Max their first day had been walking around, accompanied by Steve, she’d at the time been too tired and overwhelmed to bring her camera. But now, with streaks of light beaming through the giant trees, it would simply be a shame to let the beautiful scene go to waste. As the whole “party” (Dustin insisted that they should be called that) went their separate ways, El dived into the forest.

As she walked around the jungle with the only sound coming from the birds above, it was peaceful. Every once in a while she’d squat down when there was an exceptional beautiful flower. Which meant she bent down every ten seconds. But, she was in no danger in running out of storage and when she earlier that morning had talked to Dustin, he told her to just take plenty of pictures. It would help them even more later on when he was gonna edit the article. So El took pictures of everything. Flowers, plants, leaves, trees, insects, some so up close you could see every tiny detail and some from afar. She found herself getting lost in the art of taking a moment and then freezing it, the little _click!_ sounding satisfying in her ear everytime she found something new.

The jungle wasn’t that packed where she was standing, with room enough to walk freely around. El heard some light scrambling and looked in the lense of the camera to catch a glimpse of what was making the noise. She had to move a little past some branches and leaves, but as she zoomed in and saw _him_ , Mike, sitting by a bunch of flowers she felt her heart skip a beat. Her poor, damned heart.

It was clear Mike had no idea she was there and she tread carefully to get closer. But then she almost stepped on a branch and got scared of ruining the beautiful scene in front of her, so she stopped about 18 feet away. Crunching down on the ground she observed him through the lense. His tall figure was hunched over as he sat with crossed legs on the ground, scribbling in a notebook. The flowers in front of him were all colored in the most beautiful shades of blue and magenta. She felt the urge to snap a picture but eventually decided against it. The risk of Mike accidentally finding out she’d been watching him was too big. She couldn't make out was he was writing, the quick scribbling simply being too messy, but it was clear he was studying the flowers. He hadn't told her much about his work _yet_ , but El was dying to know. She’s always loved flowers, finding it to be so _magical_ when everything bloomed in spring.

And even though El hasn’t talked alot with him yet, it was clear that he was smart. _Very_ smart. She could see how fast his brain worked with the animated hand gestures and eyes roaming her face when he talked. It resulted in him sometimes starting to rant without even noticing and suddenly he was talking so fast El had trouble keeping up. She found it to be immensely adorable, and it made her sad whenever he realised he’d been ranting and looked embarrassed. Avoiding her eyes by looking down at his hands in a way that spoke to a lifelong trail of hurt. And that made her angry. Who scolds a child for talking? 

She moved slightly and zoomed in just a tiny bit more. You could see the freckles scattered across his nose and cheekbones and they reminded El of constellations. _How very sappy of me_ . For a moment she let herself get lost in his features. And then he smiled. It was soft and gentle, formed as he continued to jot down words on the page. What was he thinking about? She didn't know but _oh my,_ if it wasn’t the cutest thing El had ever seen. The sun was now hitting one side of his face and El stepped back slightly to get a better look...

and then stepped on a branch and feel backwards.

Cue one of the most awkward and quite honestly embarrassing conversations in El’s life. And trust her, she’s had a lot.

**__________**

_Yeah, this’ll do._

Finally Mike had found a good spot to sit down and write notes. And _oh boy_ did he need to write notes. For the past 30 minutes he’d been scorching the forest, lost in deep awe of the nature. As he walked around he called out the species of the flowers he saw. The ones he didn't know he made sure to take a good look at to maybe try and figure it out later. It was hard not to stop and stare at each individual flower for 10 minutes, taking in all its details and wonder. As he sat down he pulled out his notebook from his backpack. In front of him were some of the same flowers he’d seen multiple times while walking and not being able to identify.

Moving his eyes back and forth from the paper to the flowers, he scribbled down all things he could see. He didn't try to sketch it like Will often did, unfortunately Mike had never been all that good at drawing.

Surrounded by nothing but sheer, untouched nature, Mike felt an odd sense of.. safe. Who would’ve thought that Mike Wheeler, a dork who’s scared of most things, would feel safe sitting alone in the middle of a jungle? Now that might just be the most obscure state of fact. And it made Mike smile.

His mind started racing and his thoughts landed on El. In which he’d felt an odd state of calm yet chaotic at the same time. At first he’d tried not to get his hopes up, knowing all too well the empty feeling a heartbreak left behind. And yet it was silly, how long it took him to get back out there. Highschool left it's fare share of embarrassing moments and rejections (hey, teenage-girls can be mean), and it wasn’t until college Mike had his first date. He wasn’t in a rush though, as he so often told himself, and decided against his friends suggestions and took it slow. And then he fell in love. Or, at the time he thought it was love. But that whole sharade only brings back bad memories and a stinging throat so Mike quickly refocus on the particular flower he’d been observing. But lucky enough _(or unlucky? Mike still doesn't know)_ his whole train of thought was interrupted by some crackling coming from his right side. He looked up because the sound had simply been too loud to ignore, and caught a glimpse of a person falling to the ground. Before thinking Mike got up to help and almost stopped in his tracks when he saw who it was.

“El?”

His confusion was clear as a day as he offered a hand to help her up. El laid sprawled out on her back with closed eyes and her camera on her chest. Her chocolate brown locks messily framed her face and if Mike hadn't been so confused, he would’ve taken a moment longer to admire her. Because El Hopper is _gorgeous_. But then she slowly opened her eyes and took his hand. The contact was lost all to soon and she took a few steps back.

“What are you doing here?”

He made sure the question came out as gentle as possible, seeing as El looked a little started herself. After clearing her throat and fixing her clothes she reluctantly met hit eyes. It was only for a few seconds and then she returned to look at the ground again but it was enough to make Mike even more confused. Why did she look so embarrassed?

“Uhm, you know, I was just taking pictures of the uhm,”  
With big eyes she looked behind him.

“flowers. And trees. Flowers and trees. Yup. Just-just taking pictures.”

The statement could be true enough, despite for the fact that everything she said sounded like a lie. And then he realised. But that couldn't have been it. No, she, she was just taking pictures of flowers. And trees. Flowers and trees.

_Or she was looking at you._

“Oh, okay then. Cool.”

She still looked like a deer in the headlights and awkwardness loomed over them.

Slowly nodding she suggested they better get back, in which he agreed. There was an awkward silence the whole way back and Mike didn't miss how tight she was grabbing the camera.

_What the hell just happened?_

Once they got home to the camp they agreed to just do whatever until dinner. Dustin had pulled out playing cards and that's how Mike ended up here, playing cards and _losing_ . Steve had announced he was going to take a nap and so the four of them was therefore seated around the small table outside. Lucas and Max had left seconds after they came back, saying they wanted to take a closer look at something. _Sure_.

Him and El had shared a knowing look, cause apparently he wasn't the only one who could tell they were full of shit. But, Mike decided he would let it slide. For now. Because he hates losing no matter what the game is, and right now it didn't go well.

(to be fair though, El was sitting across from him sending him coy smiles and smirked whenever she made a good move so, fair to say Mike hadn't been paying attention the first 5 minutes) 

The three of them were currently having a conversation when Mike considered his next move. He could either play it safe or go all the way. If he was wrong about what Dustin had in his hand he would lose everything, _again_ , but if not he would finally win. Then his turn rolled around and he put down his cards. Following his friends eyes as they watched the cards hit the table, he felt a small sense of pride. He betted. Took the risk.

And he won.

**__________**

“Come on losers! Scared of a little water?!”

“Max please be careful!”

“Oh fuck it. Wait for me, I'm coming up!”

Dustin went to join Max on the ledge. El almost didn't want to look, knowing exactly what consequences Max’s reckless ideas brought. But again, Max is turning 25 in a week so she should be able to think for herself. El was currently standing in water that stopped at her chest and looked up at the two. Despite the sun having set almost 30 minutes ago she didn't feel cold whatsoever. If anything she felt like she was on fire. After they ate they told the guys where they were going (a beautiful clearing with a small lake and giant rocks and the whole thing looked like something straight out of paradise) and luckily enough all of them agreed to go.

El had worn her black bikini under her clothes and put up her hair in a ponytail before they left. The location wasn't far, 10 minutes tops, and now all excited to go night swimming they thrudged at a slightly faster speed. With a talking Mike walking next to her (is that just a thing now?) she was grateful to find that the awkwardness from earlier had vanished.

And El doesn't wanna be as bashful as Max was when she saw Lucas taking off his shirt, but the sight of Mike jumping in the lake _wearing only swimming trunks_ made her feel way to hot. And now he was standing only a few feet away from her also looking up as the two were about to jump. She recalls the way his eyes slowly traveled down her body when she had removed her daytime clothes and how much his attempt to hide it failed. The whole thing was a giant confidence boost, because El knew she had a great body, but seeing the way his eyes had budged out when she turned around? Yeah, right there El felt like she could do anything.

The heat still hasn't left her body and she, once again, dunks her head under water to cool down. It still doesn't work. And so it lingers, a small buzz beneath her skin caused by the constant feeling of his eyes on her.

“Hasta La Vista, Baby!”

And then they threw themselves out into the water. El might as well could’ve been up on the ledge with them. Standing on the edge, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she takes a step closer.

“Do they just not think, or what?”

She locked eyes with Mike as he send her a smug smile.

 

And then she jumped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I sure do know how to make foreshadowing extremely obvious don't I. Oh well.  
> Don't be scared to come bug me on tumblr, my name is eliisabeth08.  
> That’s all for now folks, see you next time!


	4. fairytales

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, hope you’re having a great day!  
> We got so much content this week and I honestly don't know what to do with myself lol.  
> But nonetheless, here’s chapter 4! (can you tell I had no idea what to call this chapter?)  
> Enjoy<3

(Monday, May 6th, 2018)

Mike quickly learns _not_ to try beating Max in an argument. No matter what he says, she’d simply come up with an anwer much, much better than his. And quite frankly, it makes him look stupid. And Mike _hates_ it.

He’d always been strongly opinionated, never to concede when he disagreed on something. But Max? Everytime Mike said something he was allowed exactly two seconds before Max beat him with a witty comeback, showing him just how low his game had gotten. She often left him stunned, blood slightly boiling from the competition but nonetheless, a smile on his face. Because sure, losing every argument in front of the _very_ cute girl he definitely _wasn’t_ crushing on, Mike had to admit the whole thing was enjoyable. Max was fiery, strong minded and told him to _just forget about it Wheeler, you're not gonna win_. He still tried of course, the only problem being that everytime he thought he finally had come up with something clever, something Max could in no way throw back in his face-

It usually took her five seconds instead of three.

And then there was yesterday when El and Max made a Star Wars reference and the whole party slightly lost it. Then they spent the rest of the night gushing about which movies were the best and Mike honestly couldn't believe that it was happening. And how nerdy it was.

Right now he was stuffing his backpack with the rest of his stuff, planning on getting the last things down before they had to leave. Which was in 2 minutes. Yesterday had gone with setting up their work, tracking the island and again, talking about sci-fi movies. But today was a whole other thing. Today and, properly tomorrow, too, they were going on a “field trip”, though that just sounded like they were in middle school. They were leaving to go search for the flowers, an old school jungle-expedition.

The whole thing has Mike excited in many different ways. But with Steve gone as the only “tough” one (except Max), Mike was admediatly a little scared. Who knows what they might run into? It's not like any of them know what to do, come to face a giant jaguar or something. Okay maybe not a jaguar, those didn't live here (he checked).

And now, when Mike was talking about being a wuss, that only included him, Will, Lucas and Dustin. He’d seen Max bite the head off an insect and eat it with no remorse. Afterwards she claimed that she knew it wasn't dangerous and _Jesus, calm down girls. It's just an insect._ So honestly, Mike isn’t sure what she’s capable of. And El? Slowing down his movements in the tent he could her voice outside talking to Dustin. He didn't need to see her to know she was smiling. There’s just something about her voice, tantalizing and soft, and Mike would bet she’s an amazing singer. He thinks he’s heard her humming subconsciously, but never close enough to be sure.

Does she sing in the shower? Instantly his face turns red and the tent starts feeling like an oven. _Don't don't don't._ But oh well, apparently his brain loves to torture him because the seconds he begs his mind to _not think about it_ the image of El standing in her bikini pops up. _Fucking great_ . Why does he have to be such a guy sometimes? It’s weird because El properly only has strictly platonic feelings for him and will definitely _not_ want to be friends with someone who pictures her half naked. Plus he’s going to spent an entire day beside her, and with his growing feelings Mike knows he’s screwed. He zips and throw on the backpack, and like a magnet he feels himself being drawn to her. Their eyes meet on the dock and she’s all flushed cheeks and bright smile and it's as all the air is being rushed out of his lungs Mike realises he’s done for. So, _so_ done for.

**__________**

They’d only been walking for a few hours, but Mike’s feet were killing him. Not that he payed much mind to it, pushing it out of his mind was easy enough when he was lost in conversation the entire time. Which he had been. He and El was, surprise surprise, walking side by side and Mike had no plans in changing that. Talking to El was… amazing, honestly. They had this teasing banter like they’d been friends for years, and sometimes there’s even a hint of flirting. _A hint._

She’s just so sweet and funny, their eyes locking every few seconds and Mike accidently trips a few times because of it. Yeah, not his brightest moments. When they took their first break she sparked a conversation with Will, and his heart soared at the sight. He knows they quickly became friends with art as a shared interest, and honestly it makes sense. They’re the kindest souls he know.

“Should we take a small break?”

Dustin’s request were answered with multiple exasperated sighs because _yes_ , they needed a break. They made a stop and Mike pulled out a water bottle. Plopping down on the ground next to El, he tried to remove some of the hair that had gotten in his face. It was starting to curl in the ends from the heat, but after a few moments he resigned to the task. Oh well.

He looked down at El as she was drawing nothings in the ground with her finger. A pair of sunglasses were propped on top of her brown locks, and she was wearing a tight grey t-shirt that stopped right above her belly button with a pair of denim paperbag shorts. She went to dust off some dirt that’d gotten on her pair of Reebok sneakers.

“What do you think, Mike?”

He looked up at his friends, particularly Lucas who seemed to have asked the question. They snickered and shot him smug smiles and Will send him The Look, and Mike realised how obvious he was being.

“Huh?”

“About making a campaign when we get home?”

“Oh, yeah that sounds great. And I assume you mean that _I'm_ gonna be making a campaign.”

“Yeah well, you’re our Paladin, Mike,”

“Paladin?”

Max approached them and you could clearly hear the laugh she was restraining.

“Yeah you know, from Dungeons and Dragons.”

“Dustin I think she knows what Dung-”

“Oh yeah I was just wondering why you guys still refer to each other as you know… Paladin and such.”

Then they went to explain that they did in fact _not_ still use those names. She and El looked immensely amused and the similarity of her and Nancy was striking when she with an arched eyebrow said;  
“If you say so.”

They continued walking and this time he and El were end troop. And then it would be like in a cheesy rom-com where their hands would occasionally graze eachother and each time he felt a tiny spark. He was overly aware of how close she was, but even though his feelings may be in that dream scenario where there’s a chance of something happening between them, his mind was certainly not. Because though her smiles and giggles and a careful hand placed on his arm was hard to ignore, Mike knew he had a way of looking too much into things.

And yes, his feelings might’ve started _(started? they’ve already begun)_ to run away with him, the thought of El turning him down was too much of a scary though, so for now he’ll take things slow. Unless she gave him a really obvious sign. Or any sign, really, because the idea of being able to place his hand in hers made the butterflies in his stomach erupt. But for now, as his mind (again) so painfully reminds him, they’re _just friends._

**__________**

It’s around noon and the sun is at its highest, the heat hitting El in the back like a furnace. She wipes the sweat of her forehead and swings the heavy backpack back on her shoulders. Mike hands her back her eggo and she proceeds to stuff it in her mouth. His confused expression from when she first pulled it out hasn’t left, and she hurries finishing chewing so she can explain.

“I really love eggos,”

She states, shrugs her shoulders and takes another bite. It’s not morbid, the look on his face, but more like utter confusion and El can't help but laugh.

“Ugh, El really? How can you eat that right now?”

Max turns around and eyes her. Even after all these years of friendship, Max still didn't quite get her love for eggos. But that’s okay, she thinks. It's her thing. She continues munching on it and picks up her conversations with Mike. 

“So you won every year?”

“Every year.”

It's a few hours later and the sun isn't as harsh anymore. The burning in El’s calves has resumed to a faint aching, only showing when they had to leap over a fallen tree or some big rocks. Right now Mike was talking about how him and the guys won the science fairs at their district every year and what they did to win them. El could list multiple things like this, small moments in his life accompanied by his friends and family, moments that aren't life changing, but meaningful nonetheless.

At this point she knew almost everything about Michael Wheeler, from meeting Will for the first time to graduating college. She knew about his family, about the absence of his father throughout, well, his whole life. About his mom trying to hold it all together but failing. About how often he and his big sister Nancy had to carry her up to her room after having one to many glasses of wine. About the guilt for leaving his little sister Holly alone with them even though they talked on the phone at least a few times a week. And it pained her.

He’d tried playing it off, shrugging and ending with a “but it's whatever, really, I don-” and she’d grabbed his hand and looked him straight in the eyes. Told him that it was okay to be hurting. That she was sorry he had to go through that. And she tightened the grip when she saw the grateful look in his eyes. _When was the last time someone told him that?_

In those tender moment they tend to stay a little more behind, voices a little lower and even though the others are walking just a few feet in front of them fully engaged with their own conversations, the rest of the world simply tunes out. Like it's just them.

She can listen to Mike speak for hours and never get tired of his voice. Now, it's not like El herself doesn't talk, because oh does she talk, Mike basically knows her entire life story as well. It feels like she can say anything and it’d be okay because it’s _Mike_ . It's at this point her dad would warn her because she had only just met him. But there’s a certain warmth, and somehow she can _feel_ that he’s good. El sighs like a 16 year old thinking about her crush but there's just something about him, confusing as hell because her heart beats faster the entire time yet when he talks it's soothing and calming. But El’s getting very good at ignoring her feelings, so she resolves to take it as an excuse to look at his lips.

And then there’s the times when he leans in to tell her a “secret” (it never really is, as she quickly finds out) and that one time she leaned in too to meet him halfway and just slightly, but it made so that his lips grazed the shell of her ear. She almost shudders, _again,_ and tries to think of anything besides his soft hair, sharp jawline, his warm hand on her lower back when he helped guide them through some wild plants that was in the way of the “path” that wasn't really a path.

How her breath had hitched when he in a quick movement had trailed his long fingers around her waist as they ducked under some branches and leaves. _That’s great Hopper, really fantastic. You’re single for three years and the second a guy, a_ **_nice_ ** _guy, talks to you you lose your shit? Just because he’s extremely handsome and extremely attractive with a good sense of humor and is-_

She cuts herself off, tells herself that this is just a quick, silly crush that’ll pass in a few days.

But El’s had quick, silly crushes before and even though she tries to ignore it, there’s that heavy thunding of her heart that tells her that this is more than that. Way, way more than that. Even if she doesn't know it fully yet.

**__________**

El isnt sure when they decided to stop for the day, but suddenly the sun was setting and they were pulling out sleeping bags to sit on while they ate. They didn't find much today, Max took some samples of the soil, El took a few pictures for Lucas, Will and Mike. At one point they even spotted a rare plant. Not what they were looking for, but exciting nonetheless.

She looked around as she sat on her blue sleeping bag which she (strategically) had placed between Mike and Max. Dustin was currently trying to start a bonfire, claiming he knew exactly how. The scene was accompanied by Lucas and Max judging him in distrust, and El wondered how long it would take for Max’s patience to run out and Dustin would get pushed aside so she could do it herself.

Beside her Mike and Will was seated on Mike’s sleeping bag, discussing and running over some of the notes they took during the day. Because even if it was mostly just talking and walking, they did stop a few times to inspect some plants. Mike was wearing a simple shorts and t-shirt combo, but lucky for her the t-shirt was a tight fit and even though he isn’t very muscular (being muscly is _not_ El’s type) it still showed off what was slowly becoming toned arms and El followed the faint lines of veins down to his hands.

And yes, Max had made fun of El for finding hands attractive, which is why she would very much like to _avoid_ looking at Mike’s. She was scared he’d catch her looking and be creeped out. What a professional she is. So she looked at his face instead. It was as his freckles had increased tenfold, scattered across his nose and cheeks. His eyebrows were knitted in confusion as he spoke to Will, but she had no idea why. She wasn't listening. _Pretty._

Mike ran a hand through his hair and El desperately wished it was her doing it. It just looked so soft, okay?

The scent of his cologne barely reached her and there's an undeniable force that urges her to get closer. Her stomach swoops when he suddenly laughs and El realises there was never a question. She was falling, slowly and steady, and she could feel her heart beating faster and faster. Like it always did when he was around. Because it felt like when Hopper had just taken her in, a tiny child, scared and traumatised, and made her feel safe. Covered in blankets sitting on a couch, Hopper had put a plate of eggos on the small table. Reassured her that everything would be okay and put on a cartoon show. It made her feel warm inside.

And it felt like the time Max surprised her at school on her birthday in highschool, devoted to doing the absolute _most_ for her sweet sixteenth.

It felt like the time she nailed a big presentation in college, feeling unstoppable and _happy._

She was a hopeless romantic after all.

**__________**

“I got it! I finally got it!” Dustin smiled proudly and turned to Lucas.

“See? Told you I could do it.” He showed off the slowly growing flame.

“That’s great Dustin! And it only took,” overly excited and a voice dripping with sarcasm, Lucas quickly killed Dustin's buzz and looked at his watch.

“2 hours! That must be a record.”

“Oh can it Sinclair, like you could've done it better.”

The two started bickering and a few seconds later Max joined. Had it really been 2 hours? The sun had almost set and Mike knew it was a matter of minutes before they would all be surrounded in darkness. Lucky for them Dustin finally started the bonfire.

They sat around it on their sleeping bags and it reminded him of his childhood. Sometimes during those summer days in Hawkins were being inside was even worse that out, the guys would sleep outside, often in Mike’s garden. Or like in those awful horror movies were a group of people are sitting around a bonfire telling scary stories and they laugh at how silly it is and then BAM! what do you know, seconds later a serial killer or something shows up and yeah… he was glad he was into Stephen king. _Let’s just put that way._

And of course, the ever pretentious and flair for the dramatics, Dustin kicks off with a story of his own. It is, of course, awful and even though it's supposed to be scary all it does is make them laugh. Offended he suggest that they should _just come up with something better then!_

And so Mike does. He is the paladin, after all. Always the best at storytelling and putting people at the edge of their seats. Still he only gets about 10 lines in when Dustin interrupts;

“Wait, that doesn't make any sense. If the girl has telekinetic powers, why doesn't she just break out of that place?”

“Dustin I just started. It's coming, okay?”

“Okay then.”

“Anyways, as I was saying,” he then spend the next 30 minutes telling the story about a telekinetic girl who escaped the “bad guys” and about the group of guys who finds her. Everyone is intrigued by the story, even Max who looked like she didn't care the first few minutes. Occasionally there’s questions from Dustin and Lucas, and Mike could feel El intensely staring at him the entire time.

The story itself was actually something that had randomly popped into his mind a few weeks ago, around the time when this whole trip was announced. At first it was just about a girl with powers, and then on nights when he couldn't sleep or other times where he could let his mind run freely, he developed it into this entire thing.

Everyone was quiet the first few seconds after Mike finished.  It was El who broke the silence.

“Wow.” the statement was joined by collective huffs of agreement, and his heart filled with pride.

“You’re really good at telling stories.” Her big brown eyes stared up at him, the moonlight hitting them just so. The sincerity in her voice touched him and he sank. Then he flashed her a smile and responded;

“Thanks.”

She sent him a sheepish smile and turned to the others. Mike noticed she’d put her hair up in a loose ponytail and thrown on an oversized sweatshirt. She looked adorable and so, _so_ pretty as the fire reflected on her face. He then joined her in the debate on which Star Wars movie was the worst, which later moved on to a heated discussion on horror movies. And it’s  nice, he thinks. Safe. Good.

But then came the night.

 

Mike had been sleeping for a good few hours if the complete darkness was any indication. A quick look at his watch confirms it. 3:27 am. From where he was laying you could hear both Dustin and, if he had to guess, Max, snoring. By now he’d grown accustomed to the natural sounds of the jungle, paying it little to no mind. It was his own justling and discomfort of the sleeping bag who rudely awoke him a few minutes ago. The fire was burned out, leaving Mike to gaze at the stars. There were thousands of them brightening up the night. And god was it breathtaking.

It was almost as if he was back in his old bedroom, where he often throughout his childhood would wake up in the middle of the night for no reason at all, it seemed. Until he drifted back to sleep he would just look out his window and watch them. Marvel at how they lit up his room. Except now he was laying in the middle of a jungle, not his bed, in which the level of comfort could be discussed, but Mike swears he’s never seen anything prettier. Almost as on cue, El starts stirring beside him. She’s not very far, about an arm's length or so and he could reach her sleeping bag.

He turns to look at her when she continues, and he realises it begins to sound less and less like just regular frazzines. Soon she’s whimpering and Mike can tell her facial features are scrunched up in a form of distress. Like she’s having a nightmare. Her breathing becomes rigged, and hiccups escape her as she turns her head back and forth on the pillow.

Mike becomes more and more aware of the fact that this is a horrible nightmare, the kind that leaves you screaming and drenched in sweat. _Fuck, what do I do?_ His first instinct is to wake up Max. So he starts to wiggle out of his sleeping bag. Suddenly everything happens way too fast. Dread settles low in his stomach as El speaks a sentence with more fear than he’s ever heard in his entire life.

“No Papa, don't hurt me.”

The tone of her words makes him freeze and he feels the panic that starts creeping up his spine. Like a bitter taste in your mouth the name repeats itself in his mind. _Papa._

“Please.” She whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apart from that dramatic cliffhanger can we talk about how whipped™ they are? Phew they’re such soulmates it hurts.  
> I'm not in love with this chapter, but uhh I guess you can't love everything you write.  
> See you next time!


	5. sincerely, yours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, sorry for the delay with this chapter. Soon I’ll be on summer break and have more time to update this more frequently, so yay!  
> This chapter touches on El past and I tried my best to make it work with the story so, just putting that out there.  
> Now back to our lovebirds and as always, enjoy!

_Dread settles low in his stomach as El speaks a sentence with more fear than he’s ever heard in his entire life._

_“No Papa, don't hurt me.”_

_The tone of her words makes him freeze and he feels the panic that starts creeping up his spine. Like a bitter taste in your mouth the name repeats itself in his mind. Papa._

_“Please.” She whispers._

**__________**

(Tuesday, May 7th, 2018) 

Mike’s bones ache with sleep as he tries to open his eyes. Groaning at the bright sun he tries covering his eyes with his hand. He turns away in an attempt to lull back to sleep, but his plans are ruined when he hears voices. _The others must be up already._ With a heavy sigh he decides to get up, though it's hard when every fiber in his body screams at him to succumb to the sweet dream that is sleep.

After those words last night he quickly woke Max up and sat there watching, frozen to the ground, as Max talked her down. There had been a certain routine, almost, like it was an old familiar thing. It showed years of whispering comforting words in El’s ears while oh so slowly laying her back down. The thought made unwanted goosebumps rise in the back of his neck. 

Mike estimates he was out for about 2 maybe 3 hours last night, the incident with El keeping him up. He’d laid for hours replaying it in his head. Her words. Her fear. Should he say something? He doesn't wanna seem intrusive, especially because he wasn't supposed to see it. Yesterday El had talked briefly about her past, saying she didn't remember much from before she was adopted. Only that the man who had her was bad and that she sometimes had flashbacks. But that was all. Maybe she didn't want him to know. Which Mike is totally okay with, and all he wants to do is respect her privacy.

Because this didn't seem like a usual nightmare. It had a deeper cut. It had trauma. Max was probably going to tell El that it was Mike who woke her, and then she’d know he knows. So after hours of pondering and loads of overthinking, he’s decided to let her be the first one to say something. Or not to and ignore the whole thing, which, Mike would be totally fine with. After all it sounded pretty horrible and yes he considered her a friend and knew El did too, but that still didn't mean she would be comfortable telling him about it. About “papa”, whoever that was. So, Mike would say nothing and if El decided to tell him, cool. If not? cool too.

“Hey sleepyhead, wake up!” Dustin decides to accentuate his point by kicking Mike, aka the sleepyhead, in the side.

“No thank you. I’m good right here.” He deadpans, totally serious. So Dustin kicks him again. And again. And, at last, Mike decides it just isn’t worth it.

“Jeesh Dustin, have some mercy!” he exclaims while (trying) to get up. Lucas shows up and after obscuring the scene for a few seconds he sticks out a helping hand. Mike takes it gratefully and the first thing he does when he has both his feet planted firmly on the ground is hitting Dustin.

“Sorry Mikeyboy, I was just getting worried.”  
“Don't call me that.” He rubs his eyes and stretches, and he has to refrain from glaring when Dustin pulls a smug smile.  
“What? Mikeyboy? You know perso-”  
“Hey is there a book club I haven’t heard about? Because we’re on a time schedule people, so save the chitty chat for later.” Max throws a look at Mike’s sleeping bag and for the first time this morning, he looks around.

 Almost everyone had packed their bags except for him and Dustin. His eyes meet El’s whose sitting by the burned out fireplace. His stomach swoops because _god,_ is El Hopper a sight for sore eyes. All bared faced and soft skin, hair placed in a bun as she’s switched out yesterday’s t-shirt with a loose short sleeved shirt. Then he feels the nerves kick in, is she mad at him? _No, she’s not mad at you, be rational!_

El then sends him a sheepish smile and mouths a _“sorry about Max”_ and Mike feels relief run through him as he smiles back. The whole exchange doesn't last longer than a few seconds, though it could’ve been minutes. Hours, maybe, but Mike catches himself again. _Calm down Romeo, you haven't even known her for a week yet._

Dustin responds with a snarky comment to Max as they finishes up so they can get going.  

**_________**

_Well, shit._

That's the current thoughts running through El’s mind. And, needless to say, it is shitty. Apparently her nightmare had woken up Mike last night. And it wasn't the fact that he knows now, though the limit of _what_ and how _much_ can be discussed, it's how he found out. El had been planning on telling him someday, but her scaring him awake doing and saying god knows what so he had to awake Max to calm her down? Yeah, that wasn't part of the plan. Like, at all.

It's been a while since she’s had them. They seem to come and go at the most random times, assaulting her dreams as waves of fear comes crashing through her. What happens in them are pretty much the same. She’s back in the lab, hospital clothes on and a shaved head. Sitting in a cold, sterile room. Her wrists are pinned down at the metal table in front of her. She can't move, and suddenly the door to her left opens. In steps Dr.Brenner. He keeps his icy gaze locked with hers as he steps further into the room, never letting her go.

And, apparently they seemed to be back. Hopefully this time it won't be for long as she has something else she’d much, _much_ rather be dreaming about. Or rather, someone.

 **__________**       

“Hey, uhm, Mike, can I talk to you about something?”

Hesitant El looked up at him, her voice a little timid. She’d been contemplating on how to approach the subject for the past 15 minutes. With a reassuring nod and smile from him she continued. _Just be casual about it. Easy enough. Right?_

“So Max told me it was you who woke her up. Which means you saw, or heard me, having a nightmare and uh, yeah I- I know it properly looked really weird and now you're properly freaked out or something and Max didn't say a lot about it and now I don't-”

Her rambling abruptly stopped when Mike grabbed her hand. It send a spark up her arm at the contact and El couldn't help but notice how well it fit in hers. He squeezed her hand and when El looked up at him she sank at the look in his eyes.

“It's okay El. You don't have to explain yourself, and if you don't wanna talk about it that's ok.” He raised an eyebrow as to say _alright?_ and she smiled and nodded.

“Yeah I know but, I wanna tell you.” She exhaled and squeezed his hand for comfort, hoping he wouldn't let go. (He didn't, not until much later when it was absolutely necessary and yes, it made both of them _very_ flustered because they hadn't noticed.)  

“Just after I was born my mom started dating this guy, Martin Brenner. Apparently he was some kind of doctor, working on expansions of the mind. Most of his work was done off the record and undocumented. It was like an obsession, pushing the limits of the human brain, seeing how far it could go. He tricked my mom into participating in some of his experiments, which messed up her brain. She didn't die from it, though that almost seemed like the better option.” 

Taking a deep breath she continued.

“He wasn't around our house a lot, and I don't think he ever liked me, or any children for that matter. I caught my mom and my aunt Becky arguing about him a few times. I don't think she liked him either, and we could both see how my mom was slowly deteriorating. Aunt Becky was good, you know? She took care of me the best she could. But then we moved away, I was six at the time. At this point Brenner had completely brainwashed her, because she agreed on letting him do some of his research on me.”

The two were walking far enough away from the others so that no one else could hear. And even then she could feel the way her words lingered in the air. Even after all this time, saying it out loud would never get easier. She knew this.

The old, familiar pain crawled back and it made her throat sting, but she told herself it was okay to feel like this for a short while. It reminded her how she’d healed, growed. Thankfully Mike didn't say anything and the moment gave her time to breathe, to steady herself. She could feel his eyes on her and it touched her how much he seemed to care. He was listening in the best way possible and that was all that mattered in this moment.

“At first it was small things, but then it just got worse and worse. I had no one. Until one day when Hopper came and saved me. He was working at the local police station at the time and had been suspicious of Brenner for a while, but never had enough evidence to build a case of anything. I guess one day he did. He got me out of there and gave me a real home.”

“El that's, I don't know what to say I just... thank you for telling me.”

A sad smile crept up on her face and she exhaled.

“Yeah and, after Hop took me in I started going to therapy. Over time it got better.”

“Good. That's good.” Mike nodded and gave her hand a soft press. She looked him in the eyes, almost scared to do so. But his expression pulled at her heartstrings because it was full of empathy. Because whenever El’s told someone, though the number remains small and excludes Max, all she saw was pity.

Not that they didn't care or was trying to be rude, but afterwards they just looked at her differently. Was a little more careful with her, as if she would break. And everytime El just wished she hadn't told. But this time, this time she was sure she made the right choice.

They looked at eachother a little longer than what was normal, a little longer than people who are just friends do, but neither of them cared.

They walked through the “neverending jungle” for a few hours at a time, making sure to stay hydrated and safely covered in sunscreen. Unfortunately Dustin had already gotten a bad burn on his shoulders the day before, which seemed to be the only thing he could talk about. More like complain, really. _Son of a bitch! I'm the only wearing a cap and I_ **_still_ ** _get a sunburn? Dustin the sunburn isn’t on your neck, dumbass. Yeah no shit but it still hurts!_  

They’d layed out the route so that they were walking sort of in a half circle to cover more ground, and if they were on schedule they should be back late in the evening. So far the day had gone by pretty uneventful, conversations were being passed back and forth and El could feel her feet slowly getting used to the constant walking. And the fact that Mike was never further away than a few feet. Which, you know, was never a bad thing.

Sometimes someone would make a joke and she found him looking at her, eyes sparkling with amusement and a gleam of… hope? she couldn't be too sure though, the moments were never long enough. At some point during their teasing, flirting banter he’d thrown her such a cute Mike Wheeler smile and El realised there were no point in denying it. El Hopper was crushing on Mike Wheeler, _hard_.

**__________**

 “That's true but, in a course I took about a year ago the professor said that wasn't it.”

“Well I guess we’ll just have to see then, figure it out when we get to that point.”  
With a light shrug Will continued to flip through his notes. Mike nodded, they’ll just have to do that. It was about 6 six in the afternoon, and even though the sun was still up and shining, it wasn't with as much ferocity as a couple of hours prior. The party were currently on a hold, having found what they first thought were the actual flowers they was sent here to find but later turned out to be something similar.

Still kind of a win, he reminds himself, because something is better than nothing. He and Will was going through notes while El snapped some pictures, Lucas took some soil samples, Dustin excitingly jotting down words faster than his hand could possible write, and Max was carefully studying the petals up close. He noticed a certain hesitation in Els movements, but decided not to question it. _She’s properly just tired._

With backpacks piled up against a tree, the party relishes in the soft breeze that hits their faces. And, as Mike looks up from his notebook and looks around, he realises just how beautiful the scenery is. There's no longer trees surrounding them, but a small hill right ahead. It leaps out a little and it's not insanely high from the ground levels so no one would have to endure any excruciating pain if they were to fall down.

 “Hey guys, come check this out,” the redhead says and soon they're all gathered around her and the flower in question. It's a beautiful species with colourful petals and a long stilk.

 “What?” El’s voice were close to him, especially since they were leaning over Max. Her forearm lightly grazed his and he embraced the closeness. She seemed to feel comfortable in his presence and it made his heart feel tingly. But then he turned to Max because, what _did_ she want to show them?

 “Well, if you look closely you can s-”

But she never got further than that because as she started speaking she’d moved in the process, forgetting that 5 other people stood behind her. And so, by moving, everyone else suddenly had to do so accordingly and _that's_ where it slipped. Or Mike and El did, at least.

 The whole thing caused had caused El to take a small step back, but apparently she’d been closer to the edge than she was aware of because her heel slipped and had in a panic hurry grabbed ahold of the person closest to her. Which was Mike. A muffled scream was heard as they together toppled over and began rolling down the “hill”. Having not caught notice, their friends started discussing whatever Max had told them. But when they heard the exchange of yelling they snapped their heads around. Dustin and Max simultaneously shouted _shit!_ while the four of them hurried to the edge.

 Mike and El were completely tangled together, a bundle of limbs and shrieks as they fell. After a good 15 seconds they stopped. And the position they ended up in was, well… not so -optimal- for two people who are Very Attracted to eachother.

 El landed on top of Mike, body all but flushed against his. Legs tangled together and face inches apart they were both panting heavily. Mike’s hands were pressed against her lower back from having his arms around her in the fall. His eyes roamed her face and he watched her cheeks flush as her eyes did the same. For a few seconds, it was only this. With the sudden rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins, Mike was sure his heart would beat out of his chest.

“You okay?” He sank as he heard his hoarse whisper. A few seconds later she nodded.

“What about you?” Though her voice was breathy the concern was unmistakable and at the given time, all he could do was nod.

 Slowly but surely they untangled themselves from eachother and Mike scolded himself for missing the weight and heat of her body against his. But these thoughts didn't last long because when he took El’s extended hand to get up he felt a sudden jab of pain in his left shoulder. Face scrunching up on pain he quickly let go of her hand.

“ _Fuck,_ ” he hissed.

“Mike? What’s wrong?” Without skipping a beat El was kneeling next to him, brows furrowed in concern.

He tried extending his hand again but the sharp sting returned. It didn't feel broken, but something was definitely wrong.

“My shoulder, it's.. I don't know.” His right hand went to his shoulder as hers did the same.

“Okay try not to move, the others are on their way down.”

And sure enough the rest of his friends came running down the hill with flailing arms and shouts of _Mike! El! Are you guys okay?!_ and he couldn't help but laugh when he saw Dustin nearly tripping over his own feet.

Seconds later they were all hovering above him, asking questions faster than the speed of light. He tried telling them that they were both okay but El intervened and explained that his shoulder was hurt.

“Let me take a look at it.” El’s voice was determined but her eyes soft. As the others quieted down she continued;  
“Remember when I told you a wanted to be a nurse in high school? I know quite a lot about these things and I took a course on medical aid before going down here. Incase, you know, something like this would happen.”

“Okay.” His answer came without hesitation and he would've said yes without an explanation. She nodded and turned to their friends.  
“Can someone bring me his backpack? I’ll have to take a more careful look at it when we get home, but for now we just need water.”

“I'm on it.” Lucas nodded and ran up to get the backpack. In the meantime Max and Dustin had pulled away from Mike following Will’s orders. He had taken courses too, so he crouched next to Mike and El.

“What happened?”  
“I don't know, maybe I landed on it wrong? It doesn't feel broken but…”  
Will nodded.

“Well, we should try and see if you can sit up, yeah?”  
El agreed and supported with both hands Mike’s left side. Using what was left of his powers they hoisted him up from the ground. At first he was a little shaky, needing to find proper balance in his footwork. Soon he was staple and could stand on his own, and just about the same time Lucas came sprinting down towards them. He handed him a bottle of water but Mike hesitated after screwing the cap off.

 He thought of El who was brushing some dirt off her pants. And then without much thought he passed her the bottle. El looked at it for a few seconds, probably about to decline as an automatic answer. He could see how she pondered about it and was relieved when she at last decided to take up on his offer.

 After a proper feel on his shoulder that left him whimpering ( _thanks, Will_ ) the two concluded it wasn't broken.

“You definitely landed on it wrong.” The smaller boy had told him once they were headed home. They’d altered between holding Mike’s backpack even though he insisted on carrying it himself. _Don't be stupid, Wheeler._ Max had told him when it was her turn. It was also shortly after that he felt two slender fingers grace just above his right eyebrow. El was following her fingers as they slowly moved down his face.

 “You're bleeding.” She stated, and sure enough, when Mike brought his own fingers up to touch what was apparently a cut and retrieved them, blood showed. It was only a small scratch, but Mike began feeling the sting it caused.

“I hadn't noticed.”

“Me neither.”

**__________**

 “Do you want me to help?”

“No it's okay I got it.” El dropped the first aid kit on the table in front of Mike and opened it. It was darker now, the sun had set and she turned on the little lantern lamp beside her. It illuminated Mike’s face just so, showing off his already sharp features by casting a light on his skin in a way El thought was breathtaking.

 17 something feet behind her El heard the party jabbering about nothing in particular it seemed, though she wasn't really paying attention. When they finally arrived back, El, with a little help from Mike, took one of the small tables and a few chairs and sat them a little apart from the kitchen and were they usually had meals, thinking it would be nicer with a little privacy. And with the constant babbling, it seemed they made the right choice. On their way home Max and Will, soon followed by Dustin and Lucas, declared that they would start making dinner as soon as they came home.

 So that left El and Mike, with a certain tension around them that El couldn't quite figure out. But she was sure that _something_ had changed within the past 10 hours. A shiver went up her spine when she saw the intensity of his gaze looking up at her. With El standing right in front of a sitting Mike, she finally had a few inches on him. And, she guesses that, for the first time in years, he’s the one looking up at someone.

 “How do feel about the fact that _you_ have to look up at me for once?” She cocked her eyebrow and send him a teasing smile. At first he looked a little surprised, but it vanished within an eye blink and El watched as his eyes grew a tiny bit darker. It made her skin crawl in the _best_ way possible and a low heat simmered in her veins.

He scoffed and sat more upright in his seat.

“Actually I don't mind it.”

“Is that so?” slowly, so slowly they leaned closer.  
“Yeah.”

“And why is that Mr.Wheeler?” El hears the suggestive tone in her words and realises that _holy shit,_ she and Mike are flirting. Of course this wasn't the first time. Oh no, their back and forth had ended up in rather _flirty_ territory before. But it still hit her because _he was flirting back._ And neither of them were being subtle about it.

“Because, Miss Hopper, that means you're-” her breath hitched in anticipation as she watched the words leave his mouth in a low voice and then… a ripple of reality cursed through them at the sound of Dustin’s voice.

 “Hey guys! Do any of you want extra spices in your meal, Max said I should ask you?!”

Slightly startled after being in their own little bubble, they broke apart and she heard Mike clear his voice. Guilt passed through her then, when she saw how he winced when turning to the side. He was _hurt_ dammit, and here she was, flirting in a way that would almost make Max proud. And that was _not_ a good thing.

But it still couldn't stop El from letting her mind wonder to earlier that day, about ten minutes before the incident.

  _She let her eyes sinly rake over his figure, hoping that hiding behind her camera would hide the fact that she, El Hopper, was feeling very (and she felt herself blush at the thought) hot and bothered. And it was all because of Michael fucking Wheeler._

  _She didn't know what started it per se, just that shortly after they had arrived at the spot and El whipped her camera out to take some pictures, she found her eyes lingering longer than usual on the tall man. El was mesmerized by him, maybe it was the way he talked so animated with his hands, maybe it was the way his shirt showed off his shoulders in a certain type of way. Or maybe it was the hair that had turned messy from running his hands through it so much or the way a perfect tan was starting to show on his face and god she couldn't stop looking at his face with his eyes in deep concentration as he clenched his jaw and-_

  _El found herself needing to take a step back, her face suddenly burning. Slightly embarrassed by feeling like this because of him doing Absolutely Nothing other than just talking, she put all of her focus on the flowers. Why was she acting like a hormonal 16 year old?_

 She was brought back when Mike coughed, realising Dustin still needed answer.

“Uh, no thank you!” Her voice was pitched and she was sure she was blushing. But then again how could she not? Biting back a laugh, she started taking out some of the stuff from the medical kit she thought she might need.

Mike sat and watched in silence as she put things on the table such as a small scissor, bandages, gauze and some alcohol wipes. Then, without anything in her hands, she went to stand on his side.

“Is this okay?” She asked, carefully pressing her palm against his shoulder from both sides. When he nodded she put a tiny bit more pressure, needing to see where and what hurted. She immediately stopped pressing when she saw how he winced.

“Did that hurt?”  
“A little bit.” But the answer was slightly strangled and El figured it was properly worse than what he let on.

 The next few minutes passed with El trying to locate more precisely where it hurt the most. And, with Mike guiding her they found out somewhat where that was. It turned out to be the area on his left shoulder and shoulder blade with a perimeter of about both Els palms side by side. His shirt was dirty too, and El made a decision without thinking more about it. She simply had to check and see if there was any bruises or outside cuts, so it made sense. Right?

 “You uh, have to take off your shirt.” She croaked.

A few seconds of silence.

“Oh yeah, of course that's, su-sure!” and she tried looking away as he pulled the navy blue shirt over his head, she really did. El felt her heart hammering in her chest and _oh god are her fingers shaking?_

 She took a deep breath because now was _so_ not the time to be having those thoughts, and some clarity seeped into her when she saw the cuts and forming bruise on his shoulder. Carefully she grazed her fingertips over the area and sank as she felt his burning skin make contact beneath hers. Els skin was buzzing and for a second she thought she saw a shiver pass where she touched. _How am I gonna get through this?_

 He shifted slightly in the chair. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but there was tension, so El still tried to come up with something funny. Fortunately the cuts didn't look that deep, so she started tearing up an alcohol wipe to clean the wounds. He hissed slightly when it made contact with his skin and El cringed.

“Sorry.” She whispered, trying to come up with a way to distract him.

“It's okay,” he hesitated, contemplating whether or not he should continue.

 “You're a very good nurse by the way.” It was properly meant to be flirty but El was touched by the sincerity in his voice.

“Thank you,” she thought for a second.

“You're a good patient. A bit of a baby though, if I'm being honest.”

“Wha-” he gasped and found her eyes over his shoulder. They were dark and sparkling with amusement and El couldn't help but giggle.

“I'm kidding!” holding her hands up in surrender, she watched as Mike nodded and turned back around.

“Sure.” He deadpanned.

They went on talking for a bit, their lighthearted conversation bouncing off each other so casually as had they been friends forever.

 El splayed her hand out just beside the mark on his skin that was slowly turning various hues of yellow, blue and purple. The warmth radiating off him made El sigh as she realised she didn't want the moment to be over. Didn't want to tell him _you can put on your shirt now_.

With surroundings having faded in the background, their friends seemed so far away and El could hear as Mike breathed slowly.

 She finished securing the cotton like gauze with some surgical tape, careful fingers moving as she stitched him up. She then remembered the cut on his forehead and drew the other chair in front of him. A pang of guilt surged through her then, realising that while she wanted the moment to last longer, Mike was probably in pain. So, she decided to put her ~~urge to kiss him~~ feelings for Mike away for the time being and help with the cut on his face.

 She sat down and inspected the wound, a riff stretching across 2 inches just above his eyebrow. It was probably caused by a branch or something and El was again surprised by the fact that she hadn't gained any serious damage for the fall. And then it was like he could read her mind.

“You know, you should properly thank me.” With a low voice he found her eyes. Immediately she felt the air shift, going from soft to something dangerous.

“Oh yeah? and why is that?” a sly smile stretched across her face as she whispered. With a hand still on his face they were so close she wouldn't be surprised if Mike could hear her pounding heart.

 “I kinda took the fall.”

“My hero.” El batted her eyelashes and grinned as she felt herself getting lost in his eyes. Which is why she didn't miss the way they darted to her lips, just for a second. A part of her screamed to _just kiss him!_ and another told her it was too soon, that she wasn't even sure Mike was on the same page. It took all of El’s self control to not lean in right then and there, to close the distance between them and finally know how his lips felt against her own.

 _Another time_ her heart whispered.

**__________**

 Suffice it is to say, Mike was feeling slightly overwhelmed. And then again, how could he be anything _but_?

His eyes fluttered as El pulled away. God, she’d been so close.

Breathing deeply, he realised he’d been holding his breath. El retrieved her hand too, taking a damp cloth from the table and folding it. Some of the suffocating tension had worn off, and Mike felt himself press a hand to his cheek, if only to feel how it burned against his fingers.

  
Then El reached for his face with her left hand to keep it in place as she padded the cut lightly with the cloth in her right. Mike sat up straight again and let her hands guide him. He was still shirtless, which, by the way, how was he literally _shirtless_ with the woman he liked sitting inches across from him. He let his eyes roam her face and felt the need to clear his throat. El was so undeniably _pretty_ and his heart sped up when he noticed she was looking right at him. _Wow, A+ for being so subtle about your feelings._

 “Everything okay?” Her voice was soft and the corners of her lips perked up the most adorable way. Mike didn't trust his voice in that moment, so he nodded instead. As she wiped the cloth along the lines of his forehead he looked around. It was nearing total darkness by now and while they sat in silence he could hear all the little sounds coming from the jungle. The sky was clear and he found himself again, looking at the stars. His attention was drawn back to the girl in front of him as he realised El had said something.

“What?”

“Oh just that I don't know how long these bandages last so you should properly grab some extra just in case.”

“Ok good, I was scared you said that there was no regular ones left and that I had to wear a pink one with Hello Kitty on it or something.” She snorted at the comment and he couldn't  help the own laugh that was bubbling up his throat.

“What do mean scared? I think you’d rock it.” With sparkling eyes and face glowing with amusement, she sent him a smile that revealed her dimples and the sight took Mikes breath away. Hell, he isnt even sure what he responds to her in that moment. Not that it matters.

Because later that night when he runs a finger over the bandage she had so carefully put there and thinks back at this moment, he knows that nothing will go back to the way it used to be. Not when El Hopper looks at him like _that._ He smiles when he realizes this, knowing from this moment on that he’s a lost cause, that nothing had seemed as right as this.

And when Mike looks up at the sky again, what does he do?

 

Thanks his lucky stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh,, I guess you can say they fell for each other huh? No?  
> Okay I'm sorry about that, but what I'm not sorry for is some of the cliché tropes like ‘time seems to slow down when we look in each others eyes´ because this is mileven guys. So really, it can't be any differently.  
> See you next time where things start to get really fluffy. Bye!


End file.
